The diagnosis, which came from club doctor Markus Braun at the Westfalen Clinic on Thursday, was probably the best news of the Champions League matchday from Borussia Dortmund’s perspective. Nico Schlotterbeck escaped with a torn ligament. In the very last scene of the game on Wednesday evening, the BVB central defender landed so devastatingly after his last header on the FC Barcelona goal that a more serious injury to the ankle was feared – even a fracture.
The calf and foot appeared to be at a 90-degree angle from each other upon landing. Given this, a torn ligament is still manageable and is comparatively good news. Schlotterbeck is likely to be out until the end of January or beginning of February, and not for the rest of the season, as feared.
However, his last header could no longer prevent the 2:3 defeat against the team of former national coach and Bayern coach Hansi Flick. Barcelona took the lead three times and Dortmund equalized twice. What BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl concluded: “We played with a lot of passion and a lot of heart. A draw would have been more than deserved.”
Because of his job description, Kehl is almost obliged to provide such a rather comforting analysis, at least in public. In fact, Flick’s team almost played the weakened Dortmund team against the wall in terms of football for long stretches of the game. The Catalans’ orgy of passing didn’t produce much of a threat to score, but the way in which Barcelona’s young team dominated BVB during the game’s development through intelligent running was impressive. Flick’s team controlled the hosts, especially in the first half, but also over long stretches of the second half. Some almost thought it was a lesson in modern football.
“We also make mistakes,” admitted Kehl after the game, “and at this level, small mistakes make a small difference.” But that was also more of a consolation, and not just for the defeat on matchday six of the Champions League against the Catalans, who had previously been tied on points. Kehl was probably referring above all to the scene before Ferran Torres’ 3-2 winning goal. Jamie Gittens, who was rarely able to show his goal-scoring ability against Barcelona, misjudged a poor back pass from Pascal Groß, and both of them naively enabled the counterattack that led to the decisive goal.
Otherwise, Dortmund could count themselves lucky that their inferiority in play did not lead to a clearer lead for the guests earlier. Until the equalizer through Serhou Guirassy’s penalty after an hour of play, BVB had not once forced Barcelona goalkeeper Iñaki Peña to intervene. Guirassy himself had two or three shots on goal, and he later scored to equalize the score at 2-2, but he didn’t have any real goalscoring qualities either.
And so the second summit meeting with a top club in the Spanish league (after a 2:5 defeat at Real Madrid) revealed that BVB was in the final of the Champions League in the summer (again against Real Madrid, final score 0:2), but currently can only barely keep up at the highest level. The news that national defender Schlotterbeck has at least not suffered a serious injury is being received with even more relief. BVB were already missing the other two regular central defenders against Barcelona, Waldemar Anton, who is suffering from a torn muscle fiber in his groin area, and Niklas Süle, whose syndesmosis injury has broken again and who may be out until the end of the season. “We will have to think about it,” said sports director Kehl after the game. Captain Emre Can had to help out in central defense on Wednesday evening.
Ramy Bensebaini could step in as a central defender
For the weeks without Schlotterbeck, full-back Ramy Bensebaini, who regularly plays in central defense for his Algerian national team, could step in. Dortmund’s fourth central defender, youngster Filippo Mané, is also injured. So Nuri Sahin is running out of defenders. This doesn’t come as a complete surprise. The fact that the BVB squad is thin in some positions has been discussed internally for a long time.
The 2:3 against Barcelona also revealed that the promised new beginning in play at Borussia Dortmund is still complicated under the new coach. Collective defensive work, clever pressing, recognizable moves – all of this is often not seen enough at BVB. Dortmund is currently only in sixth place in the Bundesliga. Re-qualification for the Champions League is in itself mandatory given the high costs for the second most expensive squad in the Bundesliga, which are around 190 to 200 million euros.
Against Barcelona, Sahin once again omitted the experienced national player Pascal Groß from the starting lineup. When he finally came into play with a quarter of an hour to go, there was immediately more structure in the BVB game. Why Dortmund’s coach is making himself vulnerable by not taking into account perhaps the best player in the squad is now reportedly surprising to some opinion leaders in Dortmund’s dressing room. If the game’s turn for the better doesn’t become apparent soon, the crackling in the background will soon become louder. So far, individual actions and goals from individuals like Gittens, Guirassy and Malen have saved Dortmund, at least in home games. At least the home bastion should be maintained against Hoffenheim on Sunday. Even without trained central defenders.
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